The night wind poured through the ruined dome of the Ancestral Shrine, sweeping up stone chips and dust from the ground and slamming them hard into Hyuga Xiao's cheek.
He did not dodge. His fingertips still twitched slightly from forcefully suppressing the Spatial Storm, but somewhere deep in his mind, a string suddenly tightened.
"Buzz—"
A needle-like pain stabbed through the depths of his brow. Xiao's eyes snapped open, the pure white in his pupils instantly replaced by deep azure starlight. He turned his head, his gaze piercing through layers of collapsed walls to lock firmly onto the edge of the barrier southeast of the Hyuga Clan Grounds.
There, the remnants of Kurenai Yuhi's Time Maze were being battered by extraordinarily brutal force.
"You moved fast, Danzo." A mocking curve tugged at Xiao's lips. That old dog had smelled blood and truly could not wait even a moment.
Through the Soul Link, Xiao's senses crossed half the clan grounds and descended directly into the depths of Kurenai Yuhi's consciousness.
He "saw" them.
Several dozen expendable fighters wearing blank masks and black bodysuits were plunging into the murky, distorted space like moths that felt no pain. They had no tactical coordination and formed no hand seals; they simply used their bodies to force their way through the chaotic cracks in time. The bodies at the front were torn in half by the flow of time, while those behind stepped over their comrades' flesh and blood and charged onward.
"Master." Kurenai Yuhi's slightly breathless voice sounded in his mind. Her chakra consumption was immense, yet her tone carried a pathological excitement. "Another batch has arrived. Completely mindless expendables. Shall I crush them all?"
Xiao closed his eyes and sent a thread of pure Tenseigan Chakra through the link, forcibly soothing Hong's mental